The present invention is a device for use in cooperation with vertically movable hospital beds to support human patients who are unable to move under their own power.
Patient lifts of various types are known in the art. Disadvantages of prior lifts include patient discomfort in the positioning of the device and the expense of manufacturing the apparatus. Most prior art lifting devices require the patient's body to be lifted and straps or other lifting support material to be placed under the patient's body. In such devices, the strap or supporting material is generally connected to overhead metal bars by chain supports. The devices lift and support the patient from a bed or wheelchair. The device itself has moving parts and most such devices employ hydraulic lifts for raising and lowering the metal bars supporting the straps or supporting material.
These prior art supports are expensive to manufacture, requiring complicated designs for assuring proper coordination and operation of the lifting mechanisms. Moreover, the placement of the straps or supporting materials under the portion of the patient's body to be lifted often requires several nurses or orderlies for first lifting or moving the patient and then for inserting the supporting material underneath. Such movement of the patient often causes pain and discomfort to the patient. Accordingly, means for allowing positioning of a patient without employing the complicated devices described above that is also economical and easy to operate is needed.